Welcome to MyBB

[MDGarcia]

Greetings:

As some of you were aware, we tried out another forum platform last week, following our unrecoverable database corruption.  I apologize for the sudden jump between Vanilla and MyBB, but although Vanilla resolved our database issue, I received a number of complaints from users stating that the interface was not intuitive, clunky in design, and a little too no-frills for their liking.  Since MyBB's merge function had support for the Vanilla software, we're landing here for a bit.  We might stay and we might not.  Depends entirely on the userbase.

So, take a look around and poke at the site.  Let me know what you think.

MDg

[kes7]

This looks a lot better than Vanilla. It's much more in line with what I expect to see when I visit a forum. Is it customizable, so we can put our Trekkie stamp on it?

Thanks for all your hard work and for being so flexible/adaptable. I don't know what all goes in to moving the forums from one engine to another, but the fact that you did it so quickly and are still open to changing is impressive. I wish we had a big enough and active enough user base to pay you a little something ... or at least buy you a nifty Christmas gift. Guess I'll have to check out the stocking stuffer thread ...

---

It does seem as if we've lost a lot of data? Most of my Tesseract update thread is missing and I don't seem to be able to reply to it. It looks like the complaining and happiness threads are MIA, and I'm afraid to even look at the Round Robins ... is there a limit on the size of a thread that can be brought over?

[MDGarcia]

Yeah, that had to do with the fact that Vanilla's converter broke, and so I had to use the original IPB database to create this one. That meant we had to drop some broken tables due to the corruption, which included some threads and also whole usergroups (like Deputy Archivist, for example).

MDg

[trekfan]

Looks nice, MDG. Thanks for all the work you do, man.

[jespah]

Thank you for everything, Mike.

/goes back to final paper/

[MDGarcia]

Thanks. You'll all notice there are some changes from IPB and Vanilla... for example, the rank images changed pretty significantly and that has to do with the fact that I wanted to use a bit of a different look for our new site.

MDg

[SLWalker]

I definitely like the look of this one better. Reminds me a bit of our old phpBB forums.

[Mackenzie Calhoun]

Yes, many thanks MDG once again

Took me a while to get back on through password troubles. Seems I've reverted back to Raven.

[MDGarcia]

Yes, many thanks MDG once again

Took me a while to get back on through password troubles. Seems I've reverted back to Raven.

No worries. And yes, because we've switched platforms, everyone has reverted back to their usernames when they first signed up. MyBB doesn't really allow for the Display Name option anymore.

MDg

[Miranda Fave]

I'm liking it so far in terms of looks and a quick spin around using the buttons and navigating. Super job Mike.

[Mackenzie Calhoun]

Yes, many thanks MDG once again

Took me a while to get back on through password troubles. Seems I've reverted back to Raven.

No worries.  And yes, because we've switched platforms, everyone has reverted back to their usernames when they first signed up.  MyBB doesn't really allow for the Display Name option anymore.

MDg

Aye, tis a pity. Small price to pay I guess.

Mac.

[MDGarcia]

I changed it for you in the database. This software uses email addresses for logins anyway, so it doesn't affect your login at all.

MDg

[Mackenzie Calhoun]

thanks MdG, most humbled.

That and I was silently preparing for my Raven alter-ego.

[biological andriod]

Greetings:

As some of you were aware, we tried out another forum platform last week, following our unrecoverable database corruption.  I apologize for the sudden jump between Vanilla and MyBB, but although Vanilla resolved our database issue, I received a number of complaints from users stating that the interface was not intuitive, clunky in design, and a little too no-frills for their liking.  Since MyBB's merge function had support for the Vanilla software, we're landing here for a bit.  We might stay and we might not.  Depends entirely on the userbase.

So, take a look around and poke at the site.  Let me know what you think.

MDg

---

For something permitting my participation free of charge I'm good with it

[Cowgirlcadet1701]

I'll be brutally honest here - this forum sucks. We'd be better off with Invision/Zeta. That's the platform they use over at Star Trek Logs, and to my knowledge they've never had any major problems with it. I think it's free, too, though I'm not completely sure.

[MDGarcia]

I'll be brutally honest here - this forum sucks. We'd be better off with Invision/Zeta. That's the platform they use over at Star Trek Logs, and to my knowledge they've never had any major problems with it. I think it's free, too, though I'm not completely sure.

How about a little more clarity on what "sucks," since the above doesn't approach constructive criticism.

MDg

[Cowgirlcadet1701]

I'll be brutally honest here - this forum sucks. We'd be better off with Invision/Zeta. That's the platform they use over at Star Trek Logs, and to my knowledge they've never had any major problems with it. I think it's free, too, though I'm not completely sure.

How about a little more clarity on what "sucks," since the above doesn't approach constructive criticism.

MDg

1. It's decidedly unpreposessing. (That means ugly, if you didn't know.)

2. The PM system (or whatever it's properly called) is a pain in the patootie.

3. You can't post YouTube videos. (Or if you can, I haven't figured out how)

4. It sticks all these funky characters where punctuation ought to be, making stuff awfully hard to read. (Especially older posts)

5. The quantity and quality of the smileys is severely lacking. STL (powered by Invision/Zeta) has a lot more smileys, and they're way better too. (Jespah knows what i'm talking about. Just ask her.)

Of course this is all just my opinion.

[jespah]

Actually, I think Invision is crap. Sorry - it's out of the box and it's really no better.

[MDGarcia]

1. It's decidedly unpreposessing. (That means ugly, if you didn't know.)

2. The PM system (or whatever it's properly called) is a pain in the patootie.

3. You can't post YouTube videos. (Or if you can, I haven't figured out how)

4. It sticks all these funky characters where punctuation ought to be, making stuff awfully hard to read. (Especially older posts)

5. The quantity and quality of the smileys is severely lacking. STL (powered by Invision/Zeta) has a lot more smileys, and they're way better too. (Jespah knows what i'm talking about. Just ask her.)

Of course this is all just my opinion.

1. The look of the forums isn't my department; I just maintain the server and make sure people can use it.  Our founder handles the look/feel of the forums and she's a little busy with RL right now.

2. The PM system's cumbersome nature (that means unwieldy or clumsy, in case you weren't aware) isn't really a dealbreaker for me in terms of functionality.

3. YouTube is accessible via the "video" tag, if you bothered to look at the help file or looked at the Video icon in the editor.  RTFM.

4. The "funky" characters are a byproduct of the database conversion and there's nothing I can do about unicode conversion issues at the database level, especially when going from one encoding to the next.  Not to mention, each browser will render it differently, especially between IE and Firefox, since IE doesn't conform to any known standard.

5. The variation of smilies/emoticons are an even lower priority on my list than the PM system.

If you're willing to donate $400+ per year for Invision v4, I'm willing to go back to it.  But the problem for me was cost and crap support when things broke under their system, which is why we left IPB in the first place.

And here's a YouTube video to prove my point:

[video=youtube]

MDg

[Cowgirlcadet1701]

Thank you. I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong. Or just stupid. Whatever.

[kes7]

This is probably best left dropped, but as a general rule, you (the general 'you') will get better customer service around here if you refrain from insulting site staffers' intelligence, offer more constructive commentary than "your forum is ugly and it sucks," ask for help when you can't figure out how to do things as opposed to assuming they're impossible, and avoid comparing us unfavorably to other sites by name. (If you prefer those other sites, they are available to you.)

Mike works hard and spends a lot of money out of his own pocket to keep this place going. I can't say I'm particularly enamored of the current condition of the forums compared to how they used to look and function, but it is what it is. We're all volunteers here, doing the best we can. IRL often gets in the way, and assuming you're not donating buckets of money toward site improvement and upkeep, you've really got very little room to complain. (I myself HAVE donated as often as possible - probably hundreds of dollars over the last 7 years, although I can't be sure - to keep the site running, and wish I could do more. But I know my paltry contributions don't come close to paying for the improvements I'd like to see in my dream world, so I keep my criticisms to myself, or share any concerns about site functionality with Mike privately.)

Two old adages came to mind reading the above airing of grievances (Festivus is in December, BTW):

1. You win more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.

2. Put your money where your mouth is.

(Note to site staff: Sorry if I'm overstepping my bounds as a mod, but Mike works too hard for too little thanks as it is ... I can't sit back and say nothing when I see him and his work insulted.)

[Cowgirlcadet1701]

I apologize for hurting anyone's feelings. Due to being an imperfect human, I sometimes lack tact when sharing thoughts. As a peace offering, I give you pumpkin pie #49.

Pumpkin Pie